Choose the Best Diamond Shape for Your Engagement Ring

Congratulations! You’ve found the love of your life and you both want to get married. Now what about that ring? Diamonds come in about a dozen standard shapes and if you don’t know your rounds from your radiants, have no fear. Below we’ve listed the basic diamond shapes and their attributes to help you pick a diamond shape that suits your girl’s personality as well as her hand.

1. Asscher Diamond

The asscher-cut diamond is similar in appearance to an emerald cut diamond, excepts that it takes on a square shape with cut-off corners and has a total of 74 facets. Depending on how much of the diamond’s corner is removed, an asscher-cut diamond can take on an octagonal look. Like the emerald-cut diamond, the asscher diamond shows off the diamond’s clarity and any thus any flaws. However, because of the clipped corners, an asscher diamond will have more sparkle than an emerald diamond.

The asscher diamond was created by the Asscher brothers in Amsterdam in 1902. This diamond has a vintage, art deco appeal as it was the popular diamond shape in the 1930s. The asscher-cut diamond is also patented by the Asscher family and every true asscher-cut diamond is marked with the family insignia and an identification number on the girdle of the diamond. These marks are only visible under high magnification, but be sure to check for them before buying an asscher. The asscher diamond has also become more popular in recent years because of its antique flair.

Famous Asscher Diamond Engagement Rings

Kate Hudson from Chris Robinson

Jessica Alba from Cash Warren

Zooey Deschanel from Ben Gibbard

Chelsea Clinton from Marc Mezvinsky

Katy Perry from Russell Brand

2. Cushion Diamond

The cushion-cut diamond, also known as a pillow cut, is a diamond that looks like a square or rectangular cut, but with rounded corners. Cushion diamonds also tend to have larger facets for more sparkle. However, this also means that cushion diamonds are rarely small diamonds, which can be good or bad depending on your budget. Larger facets mean that the clarity of the diamond is highly visible as well. Cushion diamonds were popular in the 1900’s as the choice of diamond cut.

Famous Cushion Diamond Engagement Rings

Jennifer Garner from Ben Afleck

Ashley Simpson from Pete Wentz

Maria Sharapova from Sasha Vujacic

Salma Hayek from Francois Henri Pinault

Gwyneth Paltrow from Chris Martin

3. Emerald Diamond

The emerald-cut diamond is so named because of the popular shape for emeralds in the 1920s. The emerald-cut diamond is a rectangular stone with long step-cut lines. Though it may not have the sparkle of some, this particular cut displays the clarity and color of a diamond like no other. An emerald-cut diamond will show off any inclusion or flaw in the stone, so when purchasing an emerald-cut the stone will need to be nearly perfect. Emerald diamonds can also vary in how rectangular they are cut.

Famous Diamond Emerald Engagement Rings

Elizabeth Taylor from Michael Todd

Grace Kelly from Prince Rainier of Monaco

Mariah Carey from Nick Cannon

Beyonce from Jay-Z

Camilla Parker Bowles from Prince Charles

4. Heart Diamond

The heart-cut diamond is the ultimate symbol of eternal love. The heart diamond is more used for special occasion pieces of jewelry rather than an engagement ring, but a select few do choose this as their symbol of marriage-to-be. The heart-diamond is similar in its execution as a pear shaped diamond and the amount of sparkle and symmetry of a heart diamond is dependent on the skill of the diamond cutter, as they are difficult to cut. Because of the level of cutting difficulty, be sure to check the heart diamond for flaws before purchasing. The ideal heart-diamond has a 1 to 1 length to width ratio, but this may fluctuate depending on you girl’s finger size. Also, heart diamonds are generally made from larger stones as smaller heart diamonds lose their distinctive heart-shaped appearance.

Famous Heart Diamond Engagement Rings

Joan Collins from Percy Gibson

Carla Bruni from Nicolas Sarkozy

5. Marquise Diamond

The story about the creation of the marquise diamond says that this cut was designed for Louis XIV in the 18th century, who wanted a diamond that resembled the seductive shape of his mistress’s mouth, the Marquise de Pompadour. The marquise diamond is a modified oval-cut, with rounded sides and pointed top and bottom. The marquise diamond’s unique cut has facets on the top and bottom to reflect the light, which gives the stone the appearance of being larger. This means you can get the most glitter out of your carat size as possible. As a result, this diamond cut is good for girls with smaller fingers as it will make the finger look longer and thinner. The ideal cut for a marquise diamond is considered to be a 2 to 1 length to width ratio.

Famous Marquise Diamond Engagement Rings

Catherine Zeta Jones from Michael Douglas

Victoria Beckham from David Beckham

Portia De Rossi from Ellen DeGeneres

Jennifer Lopez from Ojan Noa

Jamie Lynn Spears from Casey Aldridge

6. Oval Diamond

The symmetry of the oval diamond makes it the ideal diamond solitaire. The oval diamond has about 56 facets, which is fewer than a round-cut diamond and means that the diamond will have slightly less sparkle. The elongated oval also makes smaller or shorter fingers appear to be longer and more slender. The oval-cut diamond is also a newer diamond innovation as it was only developed in the 1960’s by Lazare Kaplan. The longer shape of an oval diamond will make the clarity of the diamond more visible as well.

Famous Oval Diamond Engagement Rings

Heidi Klum from Seal

LeAnn Rimes from Eddie Cibrian

Katie Holmes from Tom Cruise

Miranda Kerr from Orlando Bloom

Rebecca Romijin from Jerry O’Connell

7. Pear Diamond

The pear diamond is the perfect mix of a marquise and an oval, with its rounded bottom and pointed top and 58 facets. The pear diamond has a weighted appearance and is a popular choice for many types of jewelry. The weighted feel of this stone can also generate a small slimming appearance on fingers. The ideal length to width proportions for a pear diamond should vary from about 1.45 to 1.75.

Famous Pear Diamond Engagement Rings

Charlene Wittstock from Prince Albert of Monaco II

Odette Yustman from Dave Annable

Bethenny Frankel from Jason Hoppy

Katherine Heigl from Josh Kelley

Anna Kournikova from Enrique Iglesias

8. Princess Diamond

The princess-cut diamond was developed by Arpad Nagy in London, 1961 and combines the classic brilliant cut with a step cut. Depending on the size of the gem, this square diamond has a facet number that ranges from 49 to 144. Secondary only to the round-cut diamond, the princess-cut is the most popular shape for engagement rings. Since princess diamonds have more facets, they have more sparkle and any diamond flaws, such as inclusion, will be less noticeable because of the shimmer. This also allows for princess-cut diamonds to be cheaper as well as the fact as they are one of the easier diamond shapes to cut. Princess diamonds have also enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as the choice of engagement ring for the fashion-forward.

Princess diamonds aren’t all square either and can be found in rectangular shapes as well. If you would prefer a more square-shaped diamond, the ratio of length to width should be from 1 to 1.05. For a more rectangular diamond, the ratio should be greater than 1.10. Also, princess-cut diamonds have sharper corners that are prone to nicks a chips. As a result, princess-cut diamonds are frequently in ring settings with protective prongs covering the corners. Princess diamonds can also be found in channel settings, where the diamond is set into the band.

Famous Princess Diamond Engagement Rings

Sherri Shepherd from Lamar Sally

Star Jones from Al Reynalds

Kendra Wilkinson from Hank Baskett

9. Radiant Diamond

Radiant diamonds were developed by Henry Grossbard in 1977. The radiant diamond is a combination of a brilliant round diamond and an emerald-cut diamond with a total of 70 facets. With this number of cuts, the radiant diamond is sure to carry a lot of sparkle with clipped corners that result in a square appearance. However, radiant diamonds are not a diamond cut that is frequently carried by jewelry stores although they are increasing in popularity.

Famous Radiant Diamond Engagement Rings

Jennifer Lopez from Ben Affleck

Carrie Underwood from Mike Fisher

Candice Crawford from Tony Romo

Khloe Kardashian from Lamar Odom

10. Round Diamond

Round-cut diamonds are often referred to as brilliant-cut diamonds and today are the most popular cut for diamonds. Round-cut diamonds make up for 75% of all diamonds sold today. The round-cut diamond was first created by Marcel Tolkwsky, a Belgian diamond cutter, in 1919. Round diamonds are cut with 58 facets which allow for light to reflect evenly from the bottom of the stone to the top. This diamond cut ensures a good balance of cut, color, and clarity while giving you the optimal amount of sparkle. Round-cut diamonds are also well-suited for almost any mounting.

David King is the Director of Business Development of King Jewelers. A Graduate Gemologist with specialties in luxury timepieces, diamonds, and marketing, his main responsibilities include advertising & marketing, events, watch buying, client relations, concierge services, website development, brand management, and business development.